Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #3
================================
Ian Stephenson
ian@ohm.york.ac.uk
In the previous lessons we've used double stopping to form chords. We
have also considered moving the left and right hand parts further apart.
We'll continue with this idea now by moving the two hands even more
independently.
Consider the following chord:
-O-
---
O
---
__
|-------12--------| |--/--\--------------------
|-------12--------| | \ | .
|----7------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
It should sound fairly dissonant, but provided your sound isn't overly
bassy it won't be too bad in context.
We can then move the bass note (resolving it) to a G while keeping
the right hand harmony notes constant:
-O- -O-
--- ---
O O
--- ---
__
|-----12-----12---| |--/--\--------------------
|o----12-----12--o| | \ | .
|o-7-------------o| |---@--|-------------------
|---------3-------| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|-------------------O------
Once you're happy moving your left hand while holding your right
still, we can move to an Am in the same way we did last week to get
the classic opening riff to "Purple Haze" (or at least sufficient
outline to carry the rhythm while the guitarist shows off)
O
-O- -O- -O- ---
--- --- --- -O-
O o O
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| \ | . | ||
|---@--|------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / . O O O O | ||
|-----/-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / | ||
|---/---------------------------|-------------------------------||
| | O O ||
|-------------------------------|--O--O-------------------------||
| | ||
| e e e s s+q q | e e q e e q ||
| | ||
|-----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o----------7--7------7------7--|-------------------------------||
|-------------------------------|--3--3----------5--5-----------||
L4 L4 R12 L4 R12 L4 L1 L1 R12 L3 L3 R12
(The timings are an approximation - with all lessons you should
experiment to find a comfortable groove).
Once you've got this working you may feel that the initial E lacks
the emphasis you'd like to place upon the begining of such a great
riff.
Last week we tackled the problem by taking the note down an octave.
In this case that's an open string so we can't hammer it on. We could
tune down, but the proximity of the nut would reduce the volume, and
in any case - tuning down is inconvenient. The answer is to sound the
open E with your right hand.
Moving in and out of the position used for tapping is often
inconvenient - going to a walking finger style is too slow, and a
plectrum is out of the question! However, you should find that your
right hand is in a pretty good position to slap the bottom E - it's
perhaps a little further up the fretboard than is desirable but it is
quite workable (See Doug's slapping lesson #1 for details of the VERY
simple slap we're now going to use). Simply twist your right hand,
bring the thumb down on the E string and let it bounce back.
Of course if the right hand is slapping then the left hand is going
to have to play the double stop. This is accomplished by bringing your
third finger down flat across the G and D strings at the 12th fret.
With both this and the slap, experiment to find the optimum amount of
force.
-O- -O-
--- ---
O O
--- ---
__
|-------12-----12---| |--/--\--------------------
|o------12-----12--o| | \ | .
|o-----------------o| |---@--|-------------------
|--0--0-----0-------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
RT RT L3 RT L3 | /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
-O- -O- -O-
Putting the whole thing back together we get:
O
-O- -O- -O- ---
--- --- --- -O-
O o O
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| \ | . | ||
|---@--|------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / . | ||
|-----/-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / | ||
|---/---------------------------|-------------------------------||
| | O O ||
|-------------------------------|--O--O-------------------------||
| | ||
| -O--O- -O- -O- | ||
| | ||
| e e e s s+q q | e e q e e q ||
| | ||
|-----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o------------------------------|-------------------------------||
|-----------0--0------0------0--|--3--3----------5--5-----------||
RT RT L3 RT L3 RT L1 L1 R12 L3 L3 R12
That's all for now.
Ian
LESSON POINTS: Increased independance of hands
Mixing conventional right hand techniques
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Previous tapping and slapping lessons are available via FTP from
KAPPA.RICE.EDU in the directory /pub/bass/lessons. If you do not
have FTP, and wish to retrieve the lessons via email, send mail to
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